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Understanding the NSW Curriculum

An overview of the school curriculum of NSW, Australia. Including key elements, unpacking a syllabus, and reporting requirements. All policy information taken from NSW Board of Studies syllabuses and NSW Department of Education policy documents.

6.
Mandatory Requirements
Years K-6
• Approx 50% of time allocated for English and Mathematics
• 40% of time for the other KLAs and sport
• as part of the 40% allocation, 2 hours per week for planned
physical activity, including in Years 3 – 6 a minimum of 1
hour per week for sport

7.
Mandatory Requirements
Years 7-10
• 500 hours per subject for English, Mathematics and Science across Years 7–10
• 400 hours for HSIE: In Years 7-8, 100 hours for Geography and 100 hours for
History and, in Years 9-10, 100 hours for Australian History and 100 hours for
Australian Geography
• 200 hours for Technology (mandatory) across Years 7-8
• 300 hours for PDHPE across Years 7–10, in each of the years
• 100 hours of one language in a continuous one-year period
• 100 hours for Music and 100 hours of Visual Arts
• 400 hours for electives (additional studies)
• 80–120 minutes per week for sport in each of the years

8.
Other curriculum policy
There are requirements covering:
• Curriculum planning and programming
• Assessing students
• Reporting to parents
as well as development of:
• Homework policy

9.
Other curriculum policy
There is also a set of core values for all classrooms
and school communities:
• representing the aspirations and beliefs of the
Australian community
• including its concern for equity, excellence and the
promotion of a caring, civil and just society
• common to a range of secular and religious world-views
and found in most cultures

12.
Principles
At the beginning of every syllabus there are the following:
• Rationale
• Aim
• Objectives
It is important that the school and teachers of the syllabus
share a common understanding of these guiding principles.

13.
Statements
In every syllabus there are Foundation Statement s
(or Stage Statements) relating to each stage of the course
• Each statement gives a summary of knowledge, skills and
understanding that students need to develop at that stage
• Curriculum planning addresses the Foundation Statements
and how they relate to each other across the stages

14.
Stages
A stage is a period of learning typically of 2 years duration:
Early Stage 1 refers to Kindergarten
Stage 1 Years 1 and 2
Stage 2 Years 3 and 4
Stage 3 Years 5 and 6
Stage 4 Years 7 and 8
Stage 5 Years 9 and 10
Although most students will achieve the outcomes of each stage in
the years listed above, there are some students who will be
working towards outcomes at an early or later stage.

15.
Outcomes
Syllabus outcomes are statements of the knowledge, skills and
understandings expected to be gained by most students
• Each individual outcome has its own code, for example in the
English K-6 syllabus WS3.10 refers to...
Writing strand, Stage 3, Outcome 10
Uses knowledge of sentence structure, grammar and
punctuation to edit own writing.
• Curriculum programming addresses these outcomes and
related course content

16.
Content
Content for each outcome can be found in the form of:
• Indicators (K-6),
• Students learn about.. and Students learn to.. (7-10)
• Content (or Subject Matter) Overview
• Scope and Continuum (or Sequence)
• Stage 5 has additional Course Performance Descriptors
Indicators are statements of the behaviour that students might display
as they work towards the outcomes.
Indicators help teachers monitor student progress and make
judgements about student achievement.

19.
Working Group Proposal
To achieve the outcomes of each syllabus, teachers and schools
are required to develop appropriate teaching programs.
• Members of a working group can plan the school’s overall approach
to each syllabus, sharing information and ideas.
• Each group can conduct an assessment of student needs, available
resources, expectations and curriculum requirements.
• Under the guidance of a coordinator, individual members can
develop detailed teaching programs, and receive feedback.

20.
Each working group and group coordinator would be responsible for
planning and programming one Key Learning Area (KLA) from K to 10.
1. Curriculum Planning
Review the syllabus and ensure that outcomes are chosen to
systematically cover all stages. Consult with management and
school community as necessary.
2. Designing Teaching Programs
Group members each design a program for one stage of the KLA,
including three term plans and relevant units of work.
Each teacher can implement, monitor and evaluate.

21.
Writing Units of Work
Teaching programs will generally be composed of a range of
units of work.
A unit of work may be of any length, lasting from a few lessons
through to a whole term.
In order to develop units of work, teachers should address the
following two questions.
1. What programming approach should I use?
2. What elements should be included in the unit?

22.
1. What programming approach should I use?
Selecting a programming approach involves deciding between a
single strand model, a combined strand model or a combination
of models.
• The single strand model means that teachers will develop
units of work that draw only on subject matter and outcomes
from one strand.
• The combined strand model is sometimes termed the
‘thematic approach’ because it draws two or more strands
together to focus on a particular issue.

23.
2. What elements should be included in the unit?
Having chosen an approach for programming, it is necessary to
structure a format for each unit.
Ideally, the unit will include the following details:
• title of unit
• length of unit
• strand/s and outcome/s
• content
• teaching strategies
• learning activities
• resources and equipment
• assessment procedure

25.
Components of written reports
Schools provide parents with written reports on their child’s
learning, meeting the Policy Standards:
(i) use plain language
(ii) provide information on a student’s learning in each of the key learning
areas (KLAs) or subjects
(iii) compare the student’s achievement in each KLA or subject against
syllabus standards*
* Includes syllabus objectives, stage or foundation statements,
syllabus outcomes and content or indicators.

26.
Components of written reports (cont.)
(iv) include teacher comments for each KLA or subject; comments identify
areas of student strength and for further development
(v) have information about the student’s attendance at school
(vi) provide information about student achievement in relation to school
programs that extend or are additional to syllabus requirements
(vii) provide information about the student’s social development and
commitment to learning.

30.
Outstanding A
The student has an extensive
knowledge and understanding of the
content and can readily apply this
knowledge. In addition, the student has
achieved a very high level of
competence in the processes and skills
and can apply these skills to new
situations.
High B
The student has a thorough knowledge
and understanding of the content and a
high level of competence in the
processes and skills. In addition, the
student is able to apply this knowledge
and these skills to most situations.
Sound C
The student has a sound knowledge and
understanding of the main areas of
content and has achieved an adequate
level of competence in the processes and
skills.
Basic D
The student has a basic knowledge and
understanding of the content and has
achieved a basic level of competence in
the processes and skills.
Limited E
The student has an elementary
knowledge and understanding in few
areas of the content and has
achieved very limited competence in
some of the processes and skills.

31.
English as a second language (ESL) students
Schools use the following grades for ESL students
to report achievement in English –
ESL 6, ESL 5, ESL 4, ESL 3, ESL 2, ESL 1
The student’s report indicates that it shows achievement in
learning English judged in relation to the ESL Scales.
Achievement in the KLAs or subjects (other than English)
are reported using the five point achievement scale.

32.
ESL 6 The student can communicate with developing accuracy and complexity of
language in formal and informal situations. With assistance, the student can
analyse complex texts and can improve their writing through planning and
revision.
ESL 5 The student can communicate with varying fluency and accuracy, ideas
about a range of topics. With assistance, the student can analyse unfamiliar
texts and write and edit using appropriate language and structure.
ESL 4 The student can communicate ideas about familiar topics using suitable
language. With assistance, the student can understand the main ideas and
details in texts and plan and write about a variety of familiar topics.

33.
ESL 3 The student can take part in simple conversations in social and learning
situations. With assistance, the student can read and learn from simple texts
and can write stories and factual texts.
ESL 2 The student can communicate simple messages in familiar situations.
With assistance, the student can read and write simple texts about personal
experiences, events and ideas.
ESL 1 The student is beginning to learn English. Some students can
communicate using single words. Other students can communicate using
simple words and phrases and can read and write simple sentences.

34.
Reporting to parents
In response to requests from parents, schools provide
information on how their child’s achievement compares
with the student’s peer group.
This information takes the form of the number of student
peers receiving each grade or achievement level.
(This does not apply to ESL students or peer groups of
less than 5 students)

35.
Reporting to parents
Reports to parents should include the following statement:
You are encouraged to ask the school to provide you with
written information that clearly shows your child’s
achievement compared to his or her peer group at school. This
information will show you the number of children in the group
in each of the achievement levels.